Peter Pan Stakes 2014; Seven Colts Ready To Fly To The Finish

Peter Pan Stakes 2014; Seven Colts Ready To Fly To The Finish: The 60th edition of the GII 2014 Peter Pan Stakes takes place this Saturday, May 10th, 2014 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The race is for 3 year-olds running 1 1/8 miles on the dirt for a purse of $200,000. This race is often used as a local prep for the Belmont Stakes which takes place this year on June 7, 2014. SEE UPDATED RESULTS/REPLAY

The Peter Pan Stakes begins a weekend of fabulous racing action with stakes races continuing through Sunday, Mother’s Day, with the (GI) $400,000 Man ‘o War, the (GII) $250,000 Ruffian and the (GIII) $150,000 Westchester. The Sunday card stakes races will be televised from 4:30-6:00 pm EST as part of “The Jockey Club Tour on FOX” on Fox Sports 1.

The 2014 Peter Pan Stakes has a start time of 5:28 pm, EST and is the 9th race of the day on a card of 10.

The Peter Pan was inaugurated in 1940 and was run in honor of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame inductee, Peter Pan. Initially, it was run as a handicap at 1 1/8 miles until 1960 when the race was placed on hiatus. Revived at Aqueduct Racetrack in 1975, the Peter Pan Stakes was moved to Belmont Park for the 1976 running. It was contested at a distance of one mile until 1977 when it reverted to its traditional 1 1/8 mile format.

The speed record is held by Oratory in 2005 at 1:46.35. The most wins by a jockey are Eddie Maple with 4 in 1975, 1993, 1995 & 1997. The most wins by a trainer are by H. Allen Jerkens with 3 in 1993, 1997 & 1999.

Last years race was run in mudtaculous fashion by Thomas Albertrani’s colt Freedom Child. He assumed command shortly after the start and splashed clear to a rousing 13-1/4 length victory earning himself a shot in the June 8, 2013 Belmont Stakes. Needless to say, he didn’t do so well in the Belmont finishing second to last. The last time a winner of the Peter Pan won the Belmont was in 1992 with A.P. Indy, who is the sire of Commissioner in this race. Food for thought in moving forward from this race for Belmont picks.

Kari’s Picks and Plays: (@horseflynawall) After a lot of back and forth I landed on the son of Congrats/Lemon Drop Girl/Lemon Drop Kid, Fabulous Kid. He is backed by the same people who brought Summer Bird to the Belmont, Drs. Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaram. J.J.Toner is the trainer who’s had him a few weeks now. This lightly raced guy ran 3rd at Oaklawn getting beat just before the wire after setting a nice relaxed pace at the rail in the Northern Spur on April 12th. Prior he broke his maiden at Oaklawn Park first time out on March 29th. Has a nice 6f work at Belmont in 1:14.89. Fabulous Kid breaks from post #2 with Alvarado riding.

Call me nuts but I’m also digging the Todd Pletcher trained Matterhorn. The son of Tapit has a race record of 3:1:0:1 and last out finished third running against his elders at this distance, 1 1/8 miles, at Aqueduct on March 28th. He has four nice sharp 4F breezes on the Belmont track in April. It doesn’t sound like he cared for the Gulfstream surface, so hopefully with this works, he’ll transfer that to a nice finish on this track. His last race looks better visually than it does on paper. He drew post #1, the rail, so I hope Castellano can get him in a good spot to hit plus he has some nice odds.

Christophe Clement has Tonalist entered here and he is the deserving favorite in my opinion. Another son of Tapit, he is coming from some downtime after a lung infection but returned to the worktab on April 17th at Payson Park. He has a race record of 3:1:1. His last race was on February 22nd in an allowance at Gulfstream at 1 1/16 miles where he finished 2nd to Constitution. He does have a win at 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream on January 18th. He recently breezed 5f in a fast 1:00.12, 1/10 at Belmont on May 4th. His is coming off that illness and I think they’ll want him to run nice here but not blowout a lung. Tonalist exits post #4 with Rosario to ride.

There are some really nice horses here but I don’t see recent history being changed with the winner going on to win the Belmont. However, trends are made to be broken. I’m gonna root for JJ and Fabulous Kid to win the 2014 Peter Pan Stakes. This horse on paper looks like the absolute lone speed and the way the track at Belmont has been so far, he should be a nice edge with some decent odds. I think Matterhorn could make some noise with the nice works here to hit the board coming in from the garden spot. Moving forward to the Belmont, my takes from this race would be Tonalist and Commissioner, should they run well.

Kari’s play will be a Daily Double starting race #8 with 3,4,5/1,2 and play against the two favorites.

Sigi’s Picks and Play: (@sigimendoza) In 2014 Peter Pan Stakes my pick to win is Commissioner. This horse is able to run all day and is facing some horses who are coming from a layoff. If he can duplicate his Sunland Derby effort this time, without troubles in the start, he could win this race. Tonalist is a promising horse, but is coming from an illness and his connections are targeting the Belmont Stakes, so I think they’re using this race as a prep. Finally, Our Caravan looks very tough to me because he looked very impressive in his last race, easily beating the possible Preakness contender Ring Weekend in the Calder Derby.

Sigi’s play is the Daily Double starting in the 8th race: 5,9/3,4,6

Thank you Sigi for adding your picks and being such a fantastic ‘capper and frieind. Good luck to everyone and safe rides Saturday.

Related Links:
Breakfast at Belmont Park

Peter Pan Stakes Post Positions & Odds 2014
1. Matterhorn 6-1 J.R.Velazquez/T.Pletcher
2. Fabulous Kid 4-1 J.Alvarado/J.J.Toner
3. Commissioner 5-2 J.Castellano/T.Pletcher
4. Tonalist 2-1 J.Rosario/C.Clement
5. Tapicero 20-1 E.J.Zayas/M.Morales
6. Our Caravan 5-1 J.Lezcano/M.Dilger
7. Irish You Well 15-1 I.Ortiz, Jr./W.Catalano